Phil Keoghan, long-time host of The Amazing Race, brought the show home to New Zealand in Season 22, right to the South Island region where he was born and raised. Learn about Phil and his favorite New Zealand spots in this Q&A exclusive for newzealand.com.

What was it like bringing the show back to New Zealand? We love having you!

This is our fourth time back to New Zealand for The Amazing Race but the first time we have spent quality time in my home town, Christchurch. I felt tremendous pride being able to share Canterbury with not only the crew, but of course the millions of people around the world who will see what a special place we have. Places are about people and I was beaming with pride as we made our way from challenge to challenge. I even got to fit in a brief visit to my parents when I was home and took my team in for a cup of tea and scones.

What was your favorite challenge for the contestants?

The Shemozzle Race was so much fun and a great way for the teams to immerse themselves in a challenge that showed off the adventurous Kiwi spirit. Lots of humor of course and sheep dogs. How could we miss mud, molasses, chicken feathers, a slide and raw eggs - the perfect ingredients for a good time. The driving challenge and jet boats were two sports that I shot in my first days in television back in the mid-1980s when we covered the Ashley Forest Rally Races and the Jet Boat Sprints. Shooting 12 episodes of The Amazing Race in 21 days, there is a lot of luck involved - we are constantly thinking about the weather, flight schedules, so many things and when things come together and the teams have a fantastic time it really is a wonderful feeling.

Why is New Zealand a great destination for American travelers?

It’s great because New Zealand is so unique and also because we really love hosting North Americans. What I hear from so many visitors is that they love the people. New Zealanders really do like sharing their home with visitors. My parents are a perfect example - my Mum and Dad opened a bed and breakfast in Rolleston, really because they wanted to meet visitors. The fact is that all New Zealanders have that kind of enthusiasm for people who make the effort to travel to our country.

What do Americans not know about New Zealand that you think they should?

That it's closer than they think. A lovely meal and glass of wine on Air New Zealand, maybe a movie, then a sleep, wake up and you're there. I actually find flying from Los Angeles to New York a longer trip because I don't sleep. I love that we have opposite seasons, so if you want to escape a cold North American winter you can have some lovely long days in a New Zealand summer.

The West Coast of the South Island is where I spent many of my school holidays as my grandparents lived in Westport. My parents were really good about sharing this special part of New Zealand and of course there's nothing like having family to visit. For the past 20 years or so I have been visiting the Coromandel, it really is a unique part of the world. There are a lot of New Zealanders who still don’t know that much about it so I'm constantly talking up its world class beaches, native forest and fresh seafood.

Is there anywhere The Amazing Race hasn't been in New Zealand that you would like to go?

One day I would like to get us to New Chums beach, it has been voted one of the top ten beaches in the world by Lonely Planet, Rough Guide and the London Observer. You can only get there by taking a 30 minute walk along the coast then crossing over a small hill covered in native forest. Walking through the trees, it's like going through the back of the wardrobe to see another world. I've been lucky enough to see a lot of beaches in my life but New Chums is at the top of my list.

The Amazing Race continues to be a critical and ratings success, a tough feat for a television show. Why does everyone love the show?

I wish I was an expert in knowing what makes a television show a success. The Amazing Race started with a great concept from Elise Doganieri that evolved into a captivating television show seen in hundreds of countries around the world. I would like to think that because The Amazing Race has stuck with quality choices, great casting, exciting destinations and fun challenges, that we have earned the loyalty of viewers who know they are getting entertainment that has not resorted to exploitation to keep people watching. The Amazing Race epitomizes the meaning of collaboration and I am very grateful to be part of a very talented team.

This is more a case of Phil on the news than Phil in the news. The CBS morning news show has been having Phil Keoghan do a series of reports about New Zealand in the last week or so. Each one is 4 or 5 minutes long. I watched a couple of them. In one, Phil visited the extreme sports capitol of Queenstown and bungee jumped, rode in a race car and a rocket plane on a wire. In the other, Phil visited a wild food festival where he dined on snails, earthworms, crickets and a grub. He also washed it down with some local moonshine.

Q&A with Phil Keoghan, host of the Amazing RacePhil Keoghan, long-time host of The Amazing Race, brought the show home to New Zealand in Season 22, right to the South Island region where he was born and raised. Learn about Phil and his favorite New Zealand spots in this Q&A exclusive for newzealand.com.

What was it like bringing the show back to New Zealand? We love having you!

This is our fourth time back to New Zealand for The Amazing Race but the first time we have spent quality time in my home town, Christchurch. I felt tremendous pride being able to share Canterbury with not only the crew, but of course the millions of people around the world who will see what a special place we have. Places are about people and I was beaming with pride as we made our way from challenge to challenge. I even got to fit in a brief visit to my parents when I was home and took my team in for a cup of tea and scones.

What was your favorite challenge for the contestants?

The Shemozzle Race was so much fun and a great way for the teams to immerse themselves in a challenge that showed off the adventurous Kiwi spirit. Lots of humor of course and sheep dogs. How could we miss mud, molasses, chicken feathers, a slide and raw eggs - the perfect ingredients for a good time. The driving challenge and jet boats were two sports that I shot in my first days in television back in the mid-1980s when we covered the Ashley Forest Rally Races and the Jet Boat Sprints. Shooting 12 episodes of The Amazing Race in 21 days, there is a lot of luck involved - we are constantly thinking about the weather, flight schedules, so many things and when things come together and the teams have a fantastic time it really is a wonderful feeling.

Why is New Zealand a great destination for American travelers?

It’s great because New Zealand is so unique and also because we really love hosting North Americans. What I hear from so many visitors is that they love the people. New Zealanders really do like sharing their home with visitors. My parents are a perfect example - my Mum and Dad opened a bed and breakfast in Rolleston, really because they wanted to meet visitors. The fact is that all New Zealanders have that kind of enthusiasm for people who make the effort to travel to our country.

What do Americans not know about New Zealand that you think they should?

That it's closer than they think. A lovely meal and glass of wine on Air New Zealand, maybe a movie, then a sleep, wake up and you're there. I actually find flying from Los Angeles to New York a longer trip because I don't sleep. I love that we have opposite seasons, so if you want to escape a cold North American winter you can have some lovely long days in a New Zealand summer.

The West Coast of the South Island is where I spent many of my school holidays as my grandparents lived in Westport. My parents were really good about sharing this special part of New Zealand and of course there's nothing like having family to visit. For the past 20 years or so I have been visiting the Coromandel, it really is a unique part of the world. There are a lot of New Zealanders who still don’t know that much about it so I'm constantly talking up its world class beaches, native forest and fresh seafood.

Is there anywhere The Amazing Race hasn't been in New Zealand that you would like to go?

One day I would like to get us to New Chums beach, it has been voted one of the top ten beaches in the world by Lonely Planet, Rough Guide and the London Observer. You can only get there by taking a 30 minute walk along the coast then crossing over a small hill covered in native forest. Walking through the trees, it's like going through the back of the wardrobe to see another world. I've been lucky enough to see a lot of beaches in my life but New Chums is at the top of my list.

The Amazing Race continues to be a critical and ratings success, a tough feat for a television show. Why does everyone love the show?

I wish I was an expert in knowing what makes a television show a success. The Amazing Race started with a great concept from Elise Doganieri that evolved into a captivating television show seen in hundreds of countries around the world. I would like to think that because The Amazing Race has stuck with quality choices, great casting, exciting destinations and fun challenges, that we have earned the loyalty of viewers who know they are getting entertainment that has not resorted to exploitation to keep people watching. The Amazing Race epitomizes the meaning of collaboration and I am very grateful to be part of a very talented team.

One team is about to be named the winner of The Amazing Race's 22nd season.

Ahead of the two-hour broadcast, host Phil Keoghan gives The Hollywood Reporter a preview of what fans can expect to see -- and shares some of his thoughts on the season's most memorable moments.

The Hollywood Reporter: Were you surprised by any of the teams that made it to the final four?

Phil Keoghan: I was very surprised with Max and Katie. They started out this Race near the back of the pack and seemed to be out of sync for the first half of the Race. But I think the turning point was when they got to Botswana and were pulled over for speeding. They’ve really come into their own over the past couple of episodes and seem to be firing on all cylinders, especially winning the last leg. They’re certainly not lacking any confidence right now -- let’s hope they haven’t peaked too early.

THR: Can you give our readers a preview of the finale?

Keoghan: We have a great two-hour finale. We start in Belfast, Ireland, with bog snorkeling, which is a fascinating local sport there in Ireland that was dreamed up over a pint of beer. It’s extremely claustrophobic and much tougher than it looks … trying to swim in the frigid, dirty water … the perfect recipe for a cramp. We’ll get down to the final three teams in Belfast before heading out to our nation’s capital in Washington, where we send the teams around to a ton of historical landmarks. And once again, it’s a very close finish. The cool thing is that since our last visit, you’ll now get to see D.C. in HD. We even got the president involved.

THR: Mona and Beth are certainly the outsiders at this point. Do they still have a shot at winning?

Keoghan: The "roller derby moms" are a very strong team -- just think about what they do for a living. You can absolutely never count this team out of the mix. If they have any weakness, it’s that they don’t seem to be good with directions. And in terms of being outsiders, I don’t really think alliances come into play at this stage of the game. It’s every man or woman for themselves on Sunday night. If there’s one thing you can say about an Amazing Race finish, it’s that for more than a decade, it’s been unpredictable.

THR: Looking back over the season, what was your favorite moment?

Keoghan: For me, it was the Schemozzle Race in New Zealand. That was my old high school friend’s farm. I was really proud to share my homeland and friends with the viewers, the cast and of course, the crew. The ariel footage over the Rakaia River was just breathtaking. Also, the best reactions all season came from watching the teams see a live scorpion go inside the mouth of a bushman in Botswana. Max’s expression was priceless.

THR: What was the moment that surprised you the most?

Keoghan: Big surprise for me were the firemen [Matthew Davis and Daniel Moss] getting eliminated in the first leg.

THR: Chuck and Wynona were eliminated because they failed to follow the clue properly and rolled the cheese down the hill instead of transporting it on the sled. In this last episode, I half expected Bates and Anthony to get some sort of penalty for carrying the whiskey barrels instead of rolling them in the last leg. What was the difference this time?

Keoghan: While the challenge was called “Whiskey Rollin,” the clue simply told them to transport the barrels under their own power -- meaning they could have balanced them on their heads if they wanted to … so they didn’t break any rules.

THR: Dave and Connor were extremely impressive, winning legs even with Dave's injury. How hard is it for you to see a strong team like forced to drop out?

Keoghan: It was one of the toughest moments in this Race for me. I loved those guys particularly because of the father/son relationship, which reminds me so much of my dad. They played the game the way you should play it, and despite being dealt an unfortunate injury, they competed to the very end, snagging two first-place finishes and quickly established themselves as one of our favorite teams in such a short amount of time. I always knew they would be tough competitors knowing what they’ve been through with cancer and also because they both participate in the toughest sport on earth -- cycling. I would have loved to see how far they could have gone if they could have stuck it out.

THR: What was your reaction to John and Jessica being eliminated with an express pass?

The feature race, the Shepherds' Shemozzle, now entering its 15th year is run mid afternoon. This gruelling cross country obstacle event is centred around the Shepherds and their Huntaway dogs competing over an endurance and obstacle course. Previous years have seen competitors swallowing raw eggs, munching on dry weetbix washed down with a can of warm beer, huhu bugs with cold cooking oil or a sheep's eye and cream! What delicacy will be available this year?

The route and finer details of the Shepherds' Shemozzle are not revealed to contestants until the Shepherd's meeting minutes before the race. In 2007 the course underwent a major change with the race starting in town. Since 2010 the Shepherds started in the Town Hall and when they hit the road they had no idea where to find their beloved Huntaway Dogs who were none the wiser and quite happily enjoying being tied up in the main streets with 83 other Huntaway Dogs minus their owners. The mudslide also returned and was super slick and ultra muddy thanks to the hard work of the race committee and loyal support from the farm owner Nigel Price. Who knows what the race will involve next year - the only thing that organisers can guarantee is that the Shepherds' Shemozzle will be just that "A Shemozzle".

Wasting No Time – Living in the “NOW” with Phil KeoghanPosted on May 13, 2013 by GlutenFreeFind

We are so excited to share the chat we had with the amazingly talented and iconic Phil Keoghan! Phil Keoghan is an adventure TV personality, host of the multi-Emmy Award-winning series ‘The Amazing Race’. He has worked in over 70 countries around the world as host, producer, writer and cameraman on more than 1,000 TV episodes!

‘No Opportunity Wasted’ (NOW) is the result of a near-death experience Phil had at age 19. Phil reflected on the importance of seizing the day, and this became his life approach. He wrote a list for life: a list of things he wanted to do during his life. He has already broken a world record for bungee jumping, dove the world’s longest underwater cave, and renewed his wedding vows underwater while hand-feeding sharks! Phil has been profiled in People magazine and TV Guide, and has been featured repeatedly on Oprah.

Phil is a dedicated philanthropist who gives back to adults and children – from those fighting chronic illness, to those who want to fulfil their dreams of becoming an athlete. Phil’s ride across America raised over $500,000 for people with Multiple Sclerosis.Phil realized that his physical adventure could raise funds for research so children can grow up without fear of MS and can live their lives NOW. Phil is also helping give young athletes around the world the chance to fulfill their dreams as professional cyclists.

Phil co-created and co-produced a number of original series, including ‘Keoghan’s Heroes’, a show profiling thrill-seekers around the world; ‘The Human Edge’, a technology show for National Geographic Television; and ‘Phil Keoghan’s Adventure Crazy’, a series for the Travel Channel and Discovery International. He also hosted ‘FOX After Breakfast’ for FOX, ‘Surprise, Surprise’ for CBS and ‘The Best of Both Worlds’ for A&E.

During a 2001 Oprah appearance, Phil said, “The more I live, the more I want to live, and the more I want to help others live their once-in-a-lifetime dreams.” It’s Phil’s mantra. Now, on Discovery Channel’s new series ‘No Opportunity Wasted’ – which he created and hosts – Phil challenges others to live out their dreams. Here is what Phil had to share with us in a recent chat, and we did not waste any opportunities in asking him lots of questions!

Do you live a gluten-free lifestyle, and if so, how did you end up gluten-free?

I am not strictly gluten-free but I do try to avoid gluten as much as possible. A diet low in gluten or gluten-free always makes me feel a lot healthier!! I notice the difference.

Can you share how you arrived at your “No Opportunity Wasted” personal life philosophy?

It was prompted by a near death experience at 19. It was then that I decided to live my life by a life list. No more “woulda, coulda, shoulda.” ”Ditch the Excuses and Live Life NOW” became my mantra. My full story is on www.nooppportunitywasted.com

What has been your greatest achievement or “No Opportunity Wasted” success in life?

Four years ago I rode across America on my bicycle. I set out with three goals….to undertake the biggest physical and mental challenge of my life, spend quality time with my father who drove the support van, and work towards raising a million dollars for MS, my charity. With 100 percent of the proceeds of the film going to MS, my wife and I consider this to be one of our greatest achievements in life.

What led you to create your No Opportunity Wasted Energy Bars?

After traveling around the world for 25 years as a television host, I am always on the look out for the perfect energy bar, that will meet all my nutritional needs. My schedule on the road can be grueling, traveling to places where it’s impossible to get fresh food. I had tried almost every bar out there, but nothing seemed to taste really good and meet my nutritional needs, so I decided to design my own bar. Made with manuka honey from New Zealand (my home country), packed with chia seeds, gluten free and full of flavor, my bars do the trick! I dare you to try one and not fall in love with the taste.

Through your work with No Opportunity Wasted Energy bars, you are helping so many North Americans choose healthy snack and refueling options, and in particular you are helping the gluten-intolerant community. What are your goals for your No Opportunity Wasted product line?

It’s imperative that we as a nation need a more active life and to make healthier food choices. Whether it’s playing in the school yard, hitting the trails, or taking on the biggest challenge of your life or just daily challenges, No Opportunity Wasted Nutrition is there to “Power Your Adventure” and help you “Ditch the Excuses” and “Live Life NOW!”

What are your career goals going forward, and are there other opportunities you would like to embark on?

I am about to embark on the biggest physical and mental challenge of my life and trust me I will be fueled by my No Opportunity Wasted Energy Bar. In July I will leave Paris to travel around France on a 1928 bicycle. I will average 150 miles a day for 22 days to honor the Australasian team who rode the Tour de France. Proceeds from my film will go to MS. This is hands down the hardest thing I have attempted to do in my life so far!!!

Do you have any tips or advice for those newly diagnosed with gluten intolerance?

Thankfully being gluten intolerant has been embraced by the food industry so there are a lot of choices for great gluten-free products out there. People who are not gluten intolerant are still opting for a gluten-free lifestyle as they see the benefits. So being gluten free is not only for the gluten intolerant, it’s for people who want to be healthier and live longer.

You can purchase Phil’s healthy, gluten-free No Opportunity Wasted Energy (NOW) Bars, which come in an assortment of delicious flavors including the new A3 bar and trail mix varieties at GlutenFreeSmartStore.com.

You can be certain that the GlutenFreeFind.com team will be following Phil and his July Ride for MS, as well as all of his current and future work. We are inspired by you and your philosophies on how to live life to the fullest, thank you Phil Keoghan! ♦